Jesus Henry Christ (2012)

22% of critics liked it
(18 reviews)
49% of users liked it
(3,016 ratings)

This colorful, modern family comedy revolves around 10-year-old boy genius Henry James Herman (Jason Spevack) and his fervently left-wing single mother Patricia (Toni Collette), who works at the local university's cafeteria. A misfit from birth, Henry's precocious, rabble-rousing ways catch up with… More This colorful, modern family comedy revolves around 10-year-old boy genius Henry James Herman (Jason Spevack) and his fervently left-wing single mother Patricia (Toni Collette), who works at the local university's cafeteria. A misfit from birth, Henry's precocious, rabble-rousing ways catch up with him when he gets kicked out of school for writing "Manifestos on the Nature of Truth." Meanwhile, 12-year-old Audrey (Samantha Weinstein) has her own problems because of her single father, university professor Dr. Slavkin O'Hara (Michael Sheen), who used her as the test subject for his best-selling book Born Gay or Made that Way? Needless to say, she gets a not-so-nice nickname from her classmates. When Henry scores a scholarship to the university as a child prodigy, the two families cross paths and everything they knew about their lives is thrown to the wind. -- (C) Tribeca Film

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Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 31 min.
Directed By: Dennis Lee
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: May 4, 2012 Limited
Studio: E1 Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail
Watching Jesus Henry Christ sometimes feels like being trapped in a building with a faulty fire alarm.
Linda Barnard, Toronto Star
If it all seems a tad to quirky and twee, that's the overwhelming flaw in director Lee's obvious and lightweight homage to director Wes Anderson.
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Lee scratches the skin of family bonds until it bleeds.
Lou Lumenick, New York Post
Even for a surreal black comedy, "Jesus Henry Christ" requires massive suspension of disbelief.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
So what is "Jesus Henry Christ" about?
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News
It winds up just being annoying
Todd Jorgenson, Cinemalogue.com
The film is an uneven mix of forced eccentricities and gradually annoying visual gimmicks that leave the characters almost completely detached from reality.
Nick Schager, Time Out New York
As precious as its prepubescent protagonist is precocious.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
The title alone invites you to cuss at this smug film about family tites, and you may do so the second you catch a whiff of the portentous first shot: a Wes Anderson put-on.
Clay Steakley, Paste Magazine
The cast is the spine of this film. Toni Collette and Michael Sheen give masterful performances as the hapless parents, and young Jason Spevack and Samantha Weinstein do the same as the brilliant, awkward children.
Brent Simon, Shockya.com
Its casually whimsical tone and esoteric asides come across less as emblematic of a genuinely original voice, and more like an amalgamation of Little Man Tate, Rocket Science, Running With Scissors and, of course, Rushmore.
Brian Orndorf, BrianOrndorf.com
Boldly colored and sharply designed, but there's little to take away from the movie besides a surface appreciation for certain production accomplishments.

Read all 12 critic reviews

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Eric H

Spevack is a kid with the second highest ever recorded IQ who tracks down Sheen, his sperm donor father. Wes Anderson has a lot to answer for. His has become the go to style for American indie film-makers, possibly because it's such a simple formula and so easily imitated.… More
Spevack is a kid with the second highest ever recorded IQ who tracks down Sheen, his sperm donor father. Wes Anderson has a lot to answer for. His has become the go to style for American indie film-makers, possibly because it's such a simple formula and so easily imitated. Plot wise you just need a bunch of dysfunctional characters, usually related, who come together at the end in acceptance of each other. Visually anyone with a basic understanding of the rule of thirds can make their movie look like an Anderson piece, simply frame all your characters dead center so it appears they're looking straight at the audience. Top it off with a hip folky soundtrack and you've got yourself an indie smash. Lee has followed this recipe down to the most minute ingredients. Sheen's depressed professor who is estranged from his daughter is probably the most Anderson character not written by himself (or Noah Baumbach). There isn't one character in this who feels real, not necessarily a bad thing, but it would help if they were at least likable. I suspect Lee thinks they all just need a hug, but in my opinion a slap would do more good. There's no denying the photography isn't impressive but it's just too damn rigid, every frame feeling overly composed. Don't get me wrong, I'll take this over shaky cam anyday but truly great cinematography lives somewhere in between, a natural beauty unlike the mechanical framing of Anderson and his clones. Lee does seem to have talent as a director but as a writer he needs to find his own voice and stop imitating a film-maker who himself has little to contribute.